Start of the
decline 
For newspaper writers and editors of 30 years ago, life was
good -- and comfortable. More than 75 percent of adults in a
typical community read their work every day. The number of
newspapers circulated daily roughly equaled the number of total
households in the United States -- about 62 million. That means
for every household not receiving a newspaper, another subscribed
to more than one. The newspaper was still undisputed king of the
information industry, as it had been since the 18th century. It
was America's second-largest manufacturing sector (next to auto
making) and employed almost 400,000 people. One of every three
advertising dollars in a rapidly expanding and diversifying
American economy was spent on newspapers. Television? While TV's
entertainment shows increasingly absorbed America's attention, in
1969 the tube's news viewership still lagged behind newspaper
readership by 10 to 20 percent across every adult age group
category.
If in 1969 you had placed bets on an American institution
sure to weather tides and time, newspapers would have been a
reasonable choice. Yet a wager over their continued
"institution" status is one you would have lost. In
fewer than 30 years, newspapers have yielded their
once-unquestioned dominance.
Consider the following chart illustrating the number of daily
newspapers in the United States. Note particularly the trend over
the past 20 years. The change in percentage is compared to the
number of daily newspapers existing in 1950:
Year
|
Newspapers
|
% Change
|
| 1950 |
1,772 |
+0.0 |
| 1955 |
1,760 |
-0.7 |
| 1960 |
1,763 |
-0.5 |
| 1965 |
1,751 |
-1.2 |
| 1970 |
1,748 |
-1.4 |
| 1975 |
1,756 |
-1.0 |
| 1980 |
1,745 |
-1.5 |
| 1985 |
1,676 |
-5.7 |
| 1990 |
1,611 |
-10.0 |
| 1995 |
1,533 |
-15.6 |
| 1997 |
1,509 |
-17.4 |
Source: Facts About Newspapers, 1998. Newspaper Association
of America
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